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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: swing · fork · temple · tear · game · present · prune · cap

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. tear — from crying
  3. swing — to play on
  4. game — wild animals
  5. fork — in a road
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. present — the time now
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cap — a lid
  12. prune — to trim
  13. present — a gift
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. tear — to rip
  17. swing — music
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. game — a match
  20. swing — in golf
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. present — there
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com